By Kien Lee
Alpine Eagle, Chopard's sports watch offering, is adding a new colour to its collection. Joining the already-alluring selection of Aletsch Blue, Bernina Grey and Absolute Black, "Pine Green" is inspired by the palette of natural colours shaping the beauty of the Alpine biotope.
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Pine Green evokes the forests carpeting the mountains when, on summer days, the melting snow gives way to a deep greyish-green mantle of vegetation.
On this textured dial with its radiating pattern evoking the eye of an eagle, the indication of the hours, minutes and seconds provides an elegant and legible contrast through rhodium-plated or gold-plated hour-markers and hands enhanced with Grade X1 Super-LumiNova® to ensure optimal visibility even in the dark.
Positioned between 4 and 5 o’clock, the date is clearly indicated on a green disc matching the dial and thus ensuring perfect overall discretion and harmony.
The large 41 mm-diameter case of this new Alpine Eagle model is available in a first version entirely made of Lucent Steel A223. In keeping with the ethical approach to which the Manufacture is committed, this metal exclusive to Chopard is made from 70% recycled material. Thanks to its anti-allergenic composition, it has properties comparable to surgical steel, making it highly dermo-compatible.
With its resistance of 223 Vickers, this alloy is 50% more resistant to abrasion than conventional steels and has a unique hardness. Finally, thanks to a crystal structure boasting superior homogeneity, its purity enables uniquely shimmering light effects.
A second version of the timepiece is available in 18-carat rose gold. The fine gold used to produce Alpine Eagle watches is 100% ethical, as is indeed the case for all the Maison’s watch and jewellery creations since July 2018.
As a rare watch Manufacture that has operated its own precious metal foundry for several decades, Chopard is thus in a unique position to control its value chain in order to offer creations reflecting a more rational world.
The Chopard 01.01-C self-winding movement is the heart of the Alpine Eagle watches, visible through a transparent sapphire caseback is developed in its own watchmaking workshops and certified by the Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute. The word "Chronometer" on the dial is a reminder of this label of precision and excellence.
When fully wound, the mechanism enjoys a 60-hour power reserve. Constantly seeking to meet the highest standards of precision, the watchmakers have also equipped this movement with a stop-second function enabling the user to set the time to the nearest second.
Support for the Alpine Eagle Foundation
Alongside the unveiling of two new Alpine Eagle timepieces, Karl-Friedrich Scheufele has pledged to dedicate a portion of the profits from their sale to fund the Foundation's programmes.
As the Co-President of Chopard and co-founder of the Alpine Eagle Foundation explains: "Given that I personally find refuge in the pleasures of hiking and skiing, I appreciate the calm of the mountains, which are conducive to inspiration, reflection and serenity. Preserving this environment is very important to us, and I am extremely proud that the beauty of our Alpine Eagle timepieces pays tribute to the Nature that inspired them and enables the funding of concrete actions to support the conservation of this fragile ecosystem.”
The non-profit Alpine Eagle Foundation co-founded by Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, Jacques-Olivier Travers and Ronald Menzel aims to pursue innovative and multi-disciplinary environmental projects designed to raise awareness and mobilise the public regarding the importance, beauty and fragility of the Alpine biotope.
The most important project in which the Foundation is currently involved focuses on reintroducing the white-tailed eagle around Lake Geneva. As the most densely populated region in Switzerland, the plains of the Lake Geneva area have long been the natural habitat of this species. Agile, fast and powerful, this bird of prey with its majestic wingspan had nonetheless vanished from the region for 130 years. Thanks to funding from the Alpine Eagle Foundation, the “Aigles du Léman” animal park, created in Sciez (Haute-Savoie, France), by falconer Jacques-Olivier Travers is working on reintroducing new specimens in the region.
